Monday, March 2, 2009

In Like a Lion...

Edited to include Edie Marie's Giveaway! Go to bottom of post for more info and check her button on my sidebar, also.

We certainly got walloped with snow this time around! This is such an ususual storm for us here in the South. The trees were in bud and daffodils had already popped up. A storm of this size has just shut down most everything here. Closed are schools, businesses, malls, etc. They are not equipped for snow storms here like up north cause snow is a rare thing here. There are downed trees, some blocking highways, and also a loss of power for almost 24,000 people in the city here. My electric flickered off and on 3 different times, but my daughter lost hers for 3 hours. She phoned me at 11:15 last night to tell me that hers was back on. We had what is called 'thunder snow' which was explained on TV...it is like a thunderstorm where we receive heavy rain, and 'thunder snow' is thunder with a heavier snowfall. And it was coming down fast!!!

The interstates are one big mess, but some melting is taking place this afternoon. But those wet roads will be 'black ice' in the morning, as we are to dip down to 17 degrees tonight! Last night there was an accident on I-85 and traffic was at a complete standstill for 7.5 hours! TV later reported it was 9 hours, but I saw it myself when they showed the first car moving and said it was the first to move in 7.5 hours. They told on TV that cars were running out of gasoline while waiting, and that they had to rescue some people and take them to shelters. The Highway Patrol was pleading with people to stay home today and off the highways. There were over 200 accidents reported, also. It was just one big mess!

All day yesterday, they were predicting 5-10 inches overnight. SO......you might know who would wait until the last minute to make a run to the supermarket! It was pouring down rain when I left home. The highways were almost deserted, as the wet stuff had started to come down while I was still out running around. I made another run to the petstore, in addition to the supermarket, and then I had to run by my daughter's home as she had picked up the cats' insulin needles and some other things for me at Wal-M*rt. I got home safely, but the grassy areas were already covered with snow when I drove down my street. Before I got my car entirely unloaded, the street was covered with a layer of that beautiful white stuff.

Below, you will see that the highway was practically deserted on the way into the city...all the smart people had already been out and had their storm shopping all done.

Below is a really big intersection...very few motorists were out at this time.

Below, you will see that my little feral kitty came through the snow to my front door. I will put food out there for her tonight. I had moved the igloo doghouse closer to my back door yesterday for her, so I wouldn't have to shovel a path for her from it to the food dishes, but she never even slept in it last night! There were footprints in the back, also, so I know she had come around to the back to eat, plus the canned food dish was empty this morning. She's got me wondering where she could have found a better place to sleep than in that igloo with those nice warm, microwavable heat disks under the blankets for her...they stay warm for 16 hours.

This is my crepe myrtle tree outside my kitchen window...it was hanging low from the weight of the snow.

This is a scene looking up the street....

And this is the scene looking down the street...you can see other crepe myrtle trees drooping from the snow. We are just not accustomed to this much snow!

And this is my poor cleyera bush, all bent over from the heavy snow...

Below is my office window, so you can see that the office cats have had a great view of the snow...and they were enjoying batting the windows last night when the snow was falling. I usually keep the blinds pulled up a ways for them.

And this is what I found in the kitchen window when I got back inside this morning...this is Precious looking out the window. She was looking at me through the blinds with her snappy little eyes until I snapped the picture! Notice Toby's big fluffy tail in the foreground.

Right now, our street is bare, but wet. We are to be 74 degrees on Saturday! I am SO ready for Spring now!!!

Be sure to check out my sidebar for Edie's Giveaway at Edie Marie's Attic coming up on March 9th! She is giving away some beautiful items for her one-year anniversary in Blogland! Hop on over and check it out! You will just love her blog! She's a romanticist...I tell you, you will absolutely love her!!!

21 comments:

Wow, that's a lot of snow for you folks down there. But don't send it to us, PLEASE. I'm ready for a little spring air. Today it got up to about 23 high, but at least the winds have stopped blowing, still nippy though.

Hi Nancy,I haven't been around for so long and I'm sorry for that. My blog is private now, but if you want an invite, just let me know. I'm also on facebook now too.Love that last pic of Precious looking out the window. Vincent loves to do that too!xo

I'm sure the children in the area loved the snow. My granddaughter send me a picture this morning of the snow they received over night in Maryland. They were yipeeing!! because they had been wanting snow. Not me I'm glad this storm missed us. I'm all snowed out for this year. We had a beautiful sunny day today. And tomorrow is to be the same and maybe a bit warmer. I am so ready for Spring! Thanks for sharing all the pictures and the commentary about your lovely weather.

Whoa, look at all the snow! Looks beautiful, Nancy. Love all the pictures, and I could picture you rushing to the stores to stock up. lol. Sounds like me. We had 6 inches of snow Saturday, but it was gone by Sunday evening, thank goodness.

Our high today was 33F but it was sunny, so there was some melting. Most of the roads are completely clear but there's still a lot of snow in shady areas and on roofs, etc. We ended up with at least 8 inches, possibly more. It's the biggest snow we've had in several years but it won't last long because we're supposed to be back into the 70's in a few days.

Dang, I hate Summer and I dread the heat! I'll take cold and snow over it any day, but the seasons march on whether I like it or not.

Sorry about closing "My Reading Corner" I posted each day in February and didn't think anyone would be reading it anymore. I opened it just for you. So you can read it anytime you chose. I will not be posting in it for a while unless something strikes my fancy!

Hi Nancy.No offense, but I'm glad you guys got pelted with the snow this time instead of us! LOL I'm sick of the white stuff. I've had my fill for the year. If only they could come up with something to mix with the asphalt and concrete to prevent freezing!Take care.Lisa

Well I'm just glad to see that the snow I sent you finally arrived! hehe We have so much of it, I just wanted to share:-) I can well imagine how your area practically shuts down when there's a snowstorm like that since you're not used to it. Over here, nothing shuts down unless there's an actual blizzard! lol I was just out to run some errands and the snowbanks are so high everywhere, makes it dangerous to come out of side streets and driveways because you can't see the cars coming. I'm so ready for Spring as well but we usually have snow until mid to end of April...sigh. I have kitty prints in the snow all the time here:-) xoxo

Just the night before Corpus had one degree above the freezing mark early in the a.m......but it warmed up in the 70s by afternoon. Now, I'm not sure, do crepe myrtles die off when it gets that cold with so much snow? Or do they rebound?!! I have three here in our yard, and they have leaf buds on them right now. I'd sure hate to know if they do not take snow/freezing temps.

Oh my goodness! You DO have a lot of snow for you guys!! Wow! I can see where it would shut everything down as you just aren't equiped for it. Our schools were closed yesterday as we had a real nor'easter here. Another foot of snow on the ground on top of what we already had. I shoveled the path to my bird feeders three times!

So glad Buster is doing so well. I just love the picture of the three of them as kittens. So sweet. He looks so cozy in his crate all fixed up for him. He's one lucky little guy!

I have been going through the snow to the barn to feed Barnie. The darned raccoons have discovered his dry food so I have to keep it in the truck that is parked in the barn for the winter and just put out enough for each day along with his canned food and warm water. I so hope I can tame him before next winter!!! I want him in here on the bed snoozing, do you think I will be able to tame him? He's terribly wild, can't get anywhere near him. I never should have started feeding him in the barn, I should have kept feeding him on the back deck so that he would have to come to the house to eat and then we would at least have that interaction each day. If worse comes to worse I can trap him and bring him inside and keep him in a room by himself until he settles down. Never had one that I couldn't tame but he is over the top wild.

WOW!! I just got back from Joshua tree and read your post. You must have felt like you were back in Potter County. I know they arent' prepared for snow like that in your neighborhood.

The pictures are great, though. Glad you made it through safely.

I think you certainly deserve spring now.

I've been meaning to tell you about Liam. You asked how he was attached to us. He is the son of Paige's housemate, Michelle. He is quite the kid. He is very bright, but I think a little ADHD. Rather than medicate him, they keep him very active. Paige takes him out to play football or run or some such thing every morning before school. He's quite a challenge, but worth it.

Dear Nancy ~~ You will be glad to see the Spring warmer weather afterthat snow. The photos are lovely andthe one of Precious at the window is so cute. Glad Buster is doing better.Thank you for your comments and I am glad you enjoyed the jokes. The fires are all but out now, thankfully and the News is no longer full of them. My leg is slowly coming good. Still hurts to walk far.Take great care,my friend.Love, Merle.

About Me

I am a divorced mother of two grown children, a daughter and a son. I work for my son's property management company, homesnearmickey.com, vacation rental homes near Disney World in Florida. I am an avid animal lover, allowing several cats to share my home, or maybe I should say they allow me to share THEIR home.

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I MISS MY SIMON

DOB April 2003 (Lost him at 8 mos. of age due to kidney failure. Broke my heart!)

SIMON

Mar. 31, 2003-Dec. 24, 2003

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Ferals now tamed

ROXY

DOB April 2005 (She was my dentist's cat. They had a grandbaby and another on the way, so I brought Roxy home on 4/3/07. She is my shadow as she doesn't let me out of her sight.)

OLIVER

DOB May 2004 (I got him from a girl in PetsMart in Jan. '05. She had a 19-mo. old baby, and her hubby said to get rid of the cat!)

CLEOPATRA (CLEO)

July 1994 - August 1, 2009

DAPHINIA (DAPHY)

DOB July 1994

DUDLEY

DOB March 2001

DUDLEY

DOB March 2001 (when I took him to work with me, as he was bottle fed from Day 1. He refused to nurse his mama.)

TEDDY BEAR

DOB March 2003 (He is just like a teddy bear, too!)

BUTCH

DOB April 2002 (He is my cuddler!)

BUTCH

DOB April 2002 (Nothing but skin & bones when he was found. The vet said he'd been separated from his mother at least a week. He didn't know if he'd make it through the night. But I fed him every 2 hours around the clock, and he's a big boy today!)

CUPCAKE

DOB April 2006 (Stray kitten that was living on my front porch, but she is now living indoors.)

CUPCAKE

Playing through the glass storm door with a couple of my other cats.

I'll keep posting more cat pics as time permits. Cleo and Daphy are sisters (litter mates) and both are diabetic, having to have insulin shots every 12 hours. I had given them away as kittens, and then the gentleman who had them passed away 6 years later, so I took them back, rather than see them go to the shelter and be separated. There are a lot more cat pics to be posted. I may put them in a slide show once I get them altogether!

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My Grandma used to say...

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.

The time to make friends is before you need them.

Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of life.

Our duty is not to see through one another, but to see one another through.

Keep your words soft and sweet...you never know when you're going to have to eat them.

Getting back on the right track usually involves getting out of a rut.

If you want to feel rich, just count all the things money can't buy.

No matter how much frosting you put on a bad cake, it's still a bad cake.

When there's work to be done, turn up your sleeves, not your nose.

Age is not important unless you're a cheese.

God will lighten your load or strengthen your back.

What should not be heard by little ears should not be said by big mouths.

To understand a man, you must know his memories.

When a man gets too big for his breeches, his hat won't fit, either!

He who stoops to help a child, stands tall.

Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.

Instead of pointing a critical finger, try holding out a helping hand.

A real estate bargain is when you get good neighbors.

Cheer up! Birds have bills, too, but they keep singing.

It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

There are no strangers in the world...only friends you haven't met yet.

A halo has to fall only a few inches to become a noose.

Even a bed of roses has thorns.

The soul would have no rainbow if the eye had no tear.

Oil the gates of success with courtesy.

Home...be it ever so humble. It's no place to grumble.

The trouble with many people in trying times is they quit trying.

Advice is like snow. The softer it falls, the deeper it goes.

A mother's heart is a child's schoolroom.

Children are the living messages we send to a time we won't see.

If you want your dreams to come true, don't oversleep.

People seldom get dizzy from doing good turns.

Experience is what you've got when you're too old to get a job.

Kindness is a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

Remember, a diamond is nothing more than a piece of coal that has been hard pressed for a long time.

Talk is the activity of the mouth. Listening is the activity of the heart.

Happiness is not getting what you want, but wanting what you have.

Elbow grease gives the best polish.

Never return a kindness...pass it on!

Memories are a family album filled with images and dreams.

Instead of putting others in their place, try putting yourself in their place.

The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money.

Bigger snacks mean bigger slacks.

Good, better, best. Never let it rest til good is better and the better best.

An apology is a good way to have the last word.

You can remember the past, but you can't live in it.

Better late than never, but never late is better.

If you're yearning for the good old days, just turn off the air conditioning.

Nothing...the best thing to buy when you want to save money.

The best gifts are tied with heartstrings.

You cannot do a kindness too soon, because you never know when it will be too late.

There are two lasting things we give our children...one is roots, the other is wings.

In the midst of everything, take time to love, laugh and play. Then life will be worth living, each and every day.